𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆| Peeta Mellark

¹⁵.-𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐳𝐨𝐲𝐚

Training days was when things started to finally feel real for Zoya. She wasn't just staying in a dark room, being kept away from District 12, paraded around the capitol, hugging a bunch of people she didn't know, throwing up every night. This was it. This was the games, this is when she truly realized she'd have to kill people again, when she realized she'd have to die. She was practically drug to the room, practically shoved through the doors.

It wasn't as if mixed fruit was gonna scare anyone in here. Not when they were just as deadly as she was. Zoya was sure a lot of them wanted her dead, probably assumed she was an easy target. Most, not all, of the tributes in the room won from multiple brutal murders, surely apart of the career pack. They all probably thought she'd be easy to take out, only ever seeing her poison people and just once kick someone's skull in. Their minds were all thinking the same thing when it came to Zoya and the games.

Don't trust the parachutes.

Non of them realized it then, but that was just as dangerous as if she repeated her poisoning act. Zoya knew how to fight, she'd been trained heavily, she knew her way around weapons, but never felt the urge to show off, to scare people even more. She didn't want to scare people, she wanted them to think she was intimidating, so no one would know that her games broke her, but not scared. Peetas eyes followed her body, keeping his distance near the blending section.

They both knew it would be dumb to be seen together right now, especially in the eyes of other tributes. He watched her engage in a conversation between Finnick and Joanna, the three talking in hushed tones, huddled together like a pack of mean tributes that you were suppose to stay away from. He didn't want to stare, but he did, paint brush frozen in hand. Peetas head looked up a bit more when he saw her legs walking toward a station.

What did Zoya Butterfield know about throwing knives?

The capitol was more advanced this year, creating holograms that resembled actual people. A few eyes had been set on Zoya when she grasped the belt of knives, secured around her waist tightly as the station gave a minor glow. Peeta caught Finnick making an snarky comment to Joanna, who seemed to just roll her eyes. The Mellark boy didn't have much time to linger on the pair before minor yells echoed.

Zoyas hand were quick, grasping a knife, throwing it to hit the holograms. She worked quick, spinning around, flicking her wrist harshly, yanking from her waist band. Each hologram misted away, not missing one. She still had a half of the belt left when the station was done, breathing heavy as she held the knife in hand a second longer. Peetas eyebrows rose, because maybe she did seem to know a lot about knives.

Finnick and Joanna didn't linger much, both wanting to show off their self in different stations. Zoyas act clearly struck a bit of a nervous, all realizing she hid a lot of things up her sleeve that she'd surely use in the arena. Not only was she incredibly smart, but had a form of strength hidden beneath the surface. Maybe that's why she felt a little more confident after that, maybe that's why she didn't seem to fear what anyone else was thinking when she walked over toward Peeta.

"So, you throw knives." he confirmed as she came toward the table he was stood at. "How terrifying."

A minor smile went across her face. "That's what I was going for."

Her eyes went toward his arm, seeing the way he was painting different forms of colors to blend in to different scenarios. "My games had this beautiful, violet meadow. I keep wondering if they'll do it again just to mess with me."

"Haymitch says they probably won't repeat anything." Peeta looked over at Zoya, catching her eye. "To not seem like they are picking favorites."

"Maybe not favorites, but they definitely hand picked all of us." Zoya said honestly, because she knew it was true, even if they'd swear it was a random drawl from the Quarter Quell box. "Does this make us allies now?"

Peeta cracked a minor grin her way. "Stop trying to make the best out of this."

"Well, I learned from the best." her eyes looked at the purple paint he started to swirl the brush in. "You know we can manage to get them canceled."

Peeta gave an alarming look, looking around the training room. "Keep your voice down. We don't know who's listening."

"We could." Zoya gave a knowing look onces again, Peeta looking with curious eyes. "You've fooled the capitol once, what's stopping you from doing it again? Only this time, we don't go back in."

"How wound I do that?" Peeta whispered to her. "You helped me last time."

"Maybe if we both do something, it'll be enough." Zoya met his eye with a small eyebrow raise. "The two of us are the smartest people in this room, you do know that, don't you?"

Peeta didn't want to put anyone down, but he knew she was right. "What could we say to get the games called off?"

"I haven't figured it out yet." Zoya met his eye, blinking. "Something that will get to their hearts before it goes to their head."

The pair realized the tributes were all starting to circle the shooting station. Peeta and Zoya stared a second, sharing a look before waking over. Finnick made room for the pair, their eyes falling onto Katniss with her bow. She'd shot each hologram, flipping across the floor and preforming an impressive performance. She clearly didn't notice everyone's eyes on her, but Wiress clapping loudly caught her attention, gray eyes going wide at the many faces staring back her way.

•

kylie speaks

ew sorry this was so
short but i didn't wanna
cramp the smartest couple
ever speech into one chaptwr
lmao. IM SO SORRY that
it has taken me so long to
update this! cobra kai season
four came out and i have four
books for that show so i'm
writing four extra books,
plus the four was was working
on before! i'm hoping i can work
our a schedule very soon though!